ACC OFFICER REPORTS COLLEAGUE FOR CORRUPTION

MBABANE – Who is corrupt and who is not?

This is a question that begs an answer following that while the nation looks up to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to win the battle against corruption, allegations of corrupt acts have surfaced at the institution. In this scenario, one of the officers of the entity wrote a letter to register what he termed alleged acts of corruption committed by his colleague. The nature of the alleged acts is not stated in the letter, but this publication gathered that the officer was accusing his colleague of having failed to investigate a certain businessman because he had previously benefitted from him financially and otherwise. The name of the colleague who has been reported cannot be named, as he has not been found guilty of any corrupt act.

Corruption

In the letter, which this publication is in the possession of, the officer, informed the Acting Commissioner, Maphevu Mkhatshwa that he wanted to formally report his colleague for allegedly taking bribes. “As a constitutionally bound citizen to report any form of corruption, I would like to request your institution to investigate this allegation and I hope the investigation will be done in a fair non-favouritism or biased manner, as I believe that your institution will apply a fair rule of law,” reads part of the letter. The officer also mentioned that he requested regular updates on the case via his postal address or phone call. The letter is dated May 22, 2024, and is stamped with a communiqué to the effect that it was received by an ACC officer who acted as the legal secretary at the time. When the officer was engaged by this publication, he confirmed having written the letter and that he was awaiting feedback from the acting commissioner.

Uncovered

This publication uncovered that even though the letter was written three months ago, the office of the acting commissioner has not acted on the issue. The discovery was made through another letter which was written to the acting commissioner, whereby the officer enquired about an update. “As a liSwati citizen obliged to report any form of corruption, I took the initiative to formally report (name withheld) to your office to be investigated for bribery allegations, as your office is tasked with investigating allegations of this calibre, without showing any favouritism, biasness and fear. I also requested your office to apply a fair rule of law on this matter,” reads part of the follow-up letter.

The officer said in that regard, he wanted to make a follow-up and request for an update on the steps that had been undertaken to ensure that the allegations against his colleague were thoroughly and faithfully investigated. “I request a response from your office in the next seven days from receipt of this letter and if I don’t get the feedback, I shall conclude that your office has refused to investigate (name withheld) and I shall escalate the matter further,” it was stated in the letter. This publication engaged the acting commissioner regarding the letter and he advised that a comment be obtained from the entity’s spokesperson, Jabu Phakathi. In response, Phakathi said an officer of the ACC, the one who wrote the letter was fully aware of the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006.

Disclosure

“He is also aware of Section 18 that prohibits disclosure of information on the subject of an enquiry. Having said that, the commission did receive a complaint from the said officer wherein he printed a copy of a story that was published in the Swaziland News and presented it as his complaint. There was nothing supporting the allegations. The commissioner exercised his powers as provided in Section 10(2) and declined to investigate, as the complaint was both frivolous and vexatious,” Phakathi said. When the officer was informed about the response from the ACC spokesperson to the effect that the entity will not investigate the case, since there was no evidence, he said he was disappointed and that it confirmed his fears that there was biasness when it comes to handling of cases reported.

He said the case he reported was not different from others just because it included an officer from inside. “I made reference to an article that was published in the media. We have had incidents where we opened cases based on articles that were published in the media. Also, the legislation that establishes the ACC is clear that the commissioner must respond to me within a reasonable time. By not giving me feedback it is defeating the ends of justice,” he said.

Examine

The ACC has a three-pronged legal mandate of prevention whereby it is supposed to examine practices and procedures and advice on ways of preventing corruption. It also has an education role of empowering the public and private bodies and the general public on the forms and dangers of corruption. Furthermore, the ACC has the function of investigation, which is to receive and investigate complaints of alleged or suspected corrupt practices made against any person, and refer appropriate cases to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).  Worth noting is that for some time, the ACC has been deemed inefficient with members of the public and politicians labelling it  toothless in that it received a government subvention, but did not effect as many arrests as expected and that some top individuals seemed to be untouchable.

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